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Monday, February 1, 2010

Macaroni And Cheese Without The Blue Box

One of my faithful readers had long ago suggested that if I ever happened to be in Green, Ohio, that I definitely need to stop and check out one of her favorite restaurants, The Bistro of Green. The Bistro of Green was situated on Route 241 just north of the I-77 exit at the end of a small shopping plaza. I have actually eaten here in the past, but it had been several years, so I thought a fresh evaluation was in order.

To be more specific, they were located at 3459 Massillon Road in Uniontown, Ohio and can be reached at 330-896-1434. The restaurant was broken up into two seating areas to the left and right with a small bar right in the middle.

Here was a shot of the exterior of the restaurant:

The front door listed the hours of operation:

I decided to go for lunch today and was surprised to discover that a group of local high school kids had occupied the entire right half of the restaurant. At first I was concerned that I would be in for a wait, but fortunately, the other half of the restaurant was only half full.

I didn't include any pictures of the menu this time because it is available online on their website. I was impressed with not only their selection of items available, but also that many of the pastas were available using whole wheat pasta. Those looking for gluten-free options will be pleased that the menu addressed their needs as well.

I decided to go with a rather recent addition to the menu, the Bistro Mac & Cheese. My lunch today began with a basket of bread and butter

and my choice of either a small garden salad or a cup of soup. Seeing that today's soup was loaded baked potato, I thought there might be a little bit too much crossover in the cheese department between my soup and my entree. Instead I decided to go with the garden salad:

The warmed bread was decent enough; there really wasn't anything noteworthy about it. The Sumner's butter pats that came with the bread were a nice touch, although I ended up not needing them. The garden salad, composed of mixed greens, thinly sliced red onion, a rather anemic looking tomato slice and shredded carrots, didn't really do a whole lot for me. However, the homemade French poppy seed dressing was a welcome addition. According to my server, all of the salad dressings served at the Bistro of Green were made in their kitchen. That freshness really came through in the flavor of the dressing. It was a nice balance of tart and sweet and the poppy seeds brought a nice textural element to the experience.

Unfortunately, my lunch entree arrived shortly after my salad, so I had only managed to get halfway through eating it. Normally in a situation like this, I might ask that they take the dish back to the kitchen and keep it warm until I have finished my salad. However, this time it was more likely my fault because after ordering, I had taken time to use the facilities and upon returning to my table, I ended up taking more time trying to get a good photograph of my bread basket and my garden salad. Knowing that the kitchen had just fed around fifty hungry high school kids, I figured that they were probably banging out dishes as efficiently as they could.

I moved my salad bowl to my left so that the food runner could set this down in front of me:

The Bistro Mac & Cheese consisted of large chunks of grilled chicken, honey glazed bacon and cavatappi pasta in a rich and creamy cheese sauce. Technically a Sauce Mornay, both smoked Gouda and Cheddar cheese were used to make this extra creamy sauce. I tend to like my macaroni and cheese on the saucier side and this version didn't disappoint. The pasta and chicken were cooked perfectly and the combination of flavors in my mouth worked very well together. The only minor criticism I could levy was that some of the shredded Gouda hadn't completed melted into the finished sauce.

By the time I had finished all of the non-sauce items in my bowl, I was left with a decent amount of sauce on the bottom of the bowl. Not a problem! The leftover slices of bread came to my rescue as I cleaned the remaining sauce up with the bread and then finished off the remainder of my meal.

My server tried to sell me on dessert, but I was pretty darn full at that point so I simply asked for the check. In a nice surprise, this came out along with the check:

I know that recently in another post I had mentioned that I thought serving guests a parting mint or candy was a nice touch. I still do. Overall I was impressed with the Bistro of Green. The service was efficient, the food on the whole was tasty, and the atmosphere was upscale, but still relaxed. If you are concerned about price, definitely go for lunch. My lunch today with a glass of water, came to somewhere in the $8.50 range once you included the tax. Given the quality of the food I was served, I definitely felt it was a solid value.

I recommend you give the Bistro of Green a chance if you live in the Akron or Canton areas or happen to be driving through. I don't know that I would consider it to be a destination dining spot, but for locals I think it is a nice place to get a good meal.